


Nexus

by snkception



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Friendship, Gen, POV Mike, The Survey Corps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 11:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3849409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snkception/pseuds/snkception
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Erwin hasn’t met an obstacle he wasn’t determined to tear down, and Hange’s yet to encounter a mystery she doesn’t want to crack. That they should both have turned their attention to Levi is as predictable as it is unwise. At least they’ve got Mike to watch their backs."</p><p>(The Survey Corps veterans, 844-850.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nexus

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much to [momtaku](http://momtaku.tumblr.com) for her encouragement and hand-holding, and to [Island_of_Reil](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Island_of_Reil) for looking over this fic and whipping it into shape. Any remaining mistakes are, of course, mine.

##### 844 

The mess hall is full, the Wings of Freedom greeting Mike from every jacket in the vicinity. Still, there’s an oasis of space around one particular person, and Mike assesses it with a cautious glance. Assesses him, the guy Erwin was so determined to recruit.

Mike still has his doubts. It’s not that the man isn’t skilled; his deadly skill is, in fact, the problem.

Levi had pressed his sword against Erwin’s neck, and for one terrifying moment Mike knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop him if he truly wanted Erwin dead. It should have been funny, this tiny guy venting his rage. It hadn’t been funny in the slightest.

 _He’ll come around, Mike,_ Erwin had said, clapping Mike on the shoulder. _You’ll see._

Erwin thinks that he can bend the rules of reality to his will if he wishes it hard enough. Mike knows better. So he’s been watching.

Just as he puts his plate down at one of the tables in Levi’s line of sight and nods at his companions, there’s a commotion. Hange enters the room on a sound wave of chatter; her group is laughing, joking between themselves.

“Hi, Mike!” Hange says, waving at him, as if just greeting him isn't enough and she needs to put her whole body into demonstrating how glad she is to see him.

He nods in her general direction and sits down. He almost expects her to join him, because she’d promised—threatened?—a continued conversation on what exactly the titans smell like. But Hange lives to defy his expectations.

“Hi, Levi!” she says, with the exact same amount of enthusiasm.

The noise level around them kind of… drops, a little bit. Levi raises his head. Mike can’t read his expression, but then Levi doesn’t seem to do much by way of expressions.

“How’re you doing today?” Hange asks, bounding over to his table. “I said we’d have lunch one day, didn’t I? Maybe you won’t mind if I join you?”

Levi just stares at her. For once, he’s not even glaring. He seems to be as taken aback by Hange as Mike is. Finally they can agree on something.

“Good!” Hange says, and then she darts away again, only to return with her plate of today’s unidentifiable goop of a ration. She plonks it down opposite Levi at the table. “Let’s talk, Levi! How did you get so good at killing titans?”

Levi glances around, as if looking for a guidebook on how he’s supposed to react. His eyes meet Mike’s for a second; Mike just raises an eyebrow. Levi blinks at him, and, when he directs his eyes back at Hange, he looks _present_ in a way he hasn’t since that blood-soaked field where his friends died. The difference is in how he’s looking at people instead of through them.

“You don’t actually stop talking, do you, four-eyes?” Levi asks, and it sounds equal parts annoyed and reluctantly admiring—like he can appreciate the determination even if he would rather not be its object.

Hange cocks her head to the side, deliberating. “Sometimes,” she says. “Hey, so, how would you like helping me out with a little 3DMG demonstration or two? Some of our recruits would really appreciate your advice.”

Levi’s face shuts down. “No.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Hange says, raising both her hands. “That was very fast. Think about it, okay?”

“I’m here to fight titans,” Levi says. His voice is very level, but Mike can detect a thrum of anger in it, and he tenses automatically. “I’m not going to babysit.”

And then he just gets up, grabs his plate and walks away. Hange, though, doesn’t seem put off in the slightest; the look on her face is more calculating than anything. It’s as if, in this exchange, she’s managed to learn something.

Erwin hasn’t met an obstacle he wasn’t determined to tear down, and Hange’s yet to encounter a mystery she doesn’t want to crack. That they should both have turned their attention to Levi is as predictable as it is unwise.

Mike sighs. At least they’ve got him to watch their backs, even if they don’t think it’s necessary.

(Three days later, he sees Levi helping Hange with the 3DMG demonstration, glaring and short-tempered and entirely on point when correcting the errors of others. And Mike just thinks, _huh.)_

 

##### 845

Levi is a blur of motion in the corner of Mike’s vision, slicing through titans’ necks as he whirls from target to target, movements precise like steps in a macabre dance. It shouldn’t be reassuring to have him on Mike’s team, shouldn’t be so easy to trust him to do his job.

But it’s been a year now, and Mike remembers Levi’s face after the first time he failed to save a teammate. The betrayed devastation, like he hadn’t counted on it to hurt after having held himself aloof from the rest of the corps for so long.

Says a lot about a person.

Mike swings up onto his titan’s back and angles his blades, bringing them down efficiently on the neck. He frowns even as the titan falls.

Something feels off about this.

He sniffs the air.

The enemy was approaching from the west, before, and heading straight for their formation. Now—

Levi lands next to Mike as the carcass of another titan hits the ground.

“The titans are leaving,” he says.

Mike samples the air once again, just to be sure, because this doesn’t make sense.

Titans do many things. They stomp, they tower, they kill; they do not retreat. And yet the titans who were heading their way are now turning off, heading northwest.

Why?

“Let’s go,” Mike says. “We need to find Erwin.”

They catch up with Hange and Erwin at the head of the formation, both of them looking troubled.

“Something is wrong,” Hange says. Her eyes are wide behind her glasses. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Do we continue the operation?” Mike asks, turning to Erwin.

Their formation has scattered under titan onslaught, and it will take valuable time to bring everyone together, to signal that the expedition is over. They need to decide fast.

Erwin looks between them, then at the—now very clearly—retreating titans.

“We abort the mission,” he says.

Levi’s eyes slant over to him, narrowing. “Then everyone we lost on this mission will have died in vain.”

For a guy that small, he packs a surprising amount of suppressed violence into his stance. One day, this will stop taking Mike aback.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Erwin asks, pinning Levi with all the weight of his look. It’s a hell of a look; Mike would know, he’s been there.

“I agree with Erwin,” Hange says. She looks more openly unhappy than either Erwin or Levi, but no less determined for it. “Whatever the titans want, it can’t be a good thing; we need to find out what’s happening.”

So Erwin gives the order, and they all follow.

It becomes increasingly obvious that they’re approaching the walls. The titans aren’t interested in the Survey Corps at all anymore; something is clearly happening over in Wall Maria.

It hits Mike before anyone else knows what’s going on, the smell of blood rolling over him like a tide. He chokes on it, feels his gorge rise. He imagines there must be rivers of blood flowing now where the cities of Wall Maria used to stand.

“Erwin,” he gasps. “We’re too late.”

Erwin reaches out to steady him, which is when Mike realizes that he’s nearly fallen off his horse. It doesn’t register, not given the disaster he knows, he _knows_ is waiting for them at the end of this journey.

Erwin meets his eyes. “Mike, breathe,” he says, and Mike laughs, because breathing is the hardest thing he can do, considering what he’s breathing in.

(It’s not too long before the others realize what he meant.)

 

##### 846

“Sir,” Erwin asks carefully, “are you quite sure?”

Shadis glares, and everyone straightens their spines automatically. Everyone but Levi, that is, but then there are fucks nobody expects Levi to give.

“Of course I’m sure I want to step down,” Shadis says. “What do you take me for, an imbecile?”

Mike notes the way Erwin keeps his face deliberately smooth, can almost see him restrain a very particular line of questioning.

From Erwin, Mike has heard the rumours, talk about the political manoeuvring that has unfolded behind closed doors. The government has raised an army to retake Wall Maria; that the army is composed mostly of civilians is ‘a calculated risk’. Mike doesn’t like that kind of calculation, and he doesn’t think Shadis would have much time for it, either.

“In that case, it would be my honour to relieve you, sir,” Erwin says.

Shadis snorts. “I’ve forwarded your nomination. I don’t expect any trouble. You have an impeccable record.”

“Thank you, sir.” Erwin inclines his head. His mouth is curved in a slight smile, one Mike knows well; Erwin is already planning, thinking ahead to his next moves.

Next to him, Shadis looks washed out, grey. He has led the Survey Corps bravely. Mike thinks Erwin will do better.

“Well,” Hange says, wandering over to Mike once the briefing is over. “I guess things around here are going to get interesting, huh?”

Mike and Levi exchange glances.

“You just think Erwin will give you a bigger budget for research,” Levi says, still slumped against the wall.

“That I do!” Hange beams, then punches Levi on the shoulder lightly. “Aren’t you smart, Levi!”

“Tch.” Levi shrugs off her enthusiasm as he always does, but Mike is sure Hange sees it too, the way Levi uncurls a little, pleased.

They make for a strange team. Then again, Survey Corps members are strange people by default.

And Hange’s right: things are probably about to get more interesting.  

(When reports come in from the expedition to reclaim Wall Maria, Mike finds Erwin sitting in a dark office, staring out the window. _Do you ever wonder,_ Erwin begins, but Mike doesn’t let him finish. _No,_ he says. _I’m sure this fight is worth it._ If Erwin knows Mike is just saying it for his benefit, he doesn’t call him on it.)

 

##### 847

Being Erwin’s second-in-command means Mike gets a lot more solo missions. He freezes his ass off in the north; he leads an expedition from Chlorba district; he finds it a pleasant change when he meets Erwin is Stohess, but of course Erwin takes this opportunity to drag him to an official soirée.

“We need to woo the sponsors,” Erwin says, hands on the folds of his collar, adjusting it as he peers into the mirror.

Mike fixes Erwin’s reflection with an unimpressed look. “Take Hange.”

“I have,” Erwin says, and turns to smile at Mike. “She went to the last two receptions.”

“Take Levi,” Mike suggests, though he can't imagine Levi as a social butterfly.

“I have,” Erwin repeats, and Mike blinks at him. “He’s very popular.” Erwin raises an eyebrow. “Humanity’s strongest soldier? Of course we must capitalize on it.”

Of course they must.

“Nanaba,” Mike suggests. “Dita Ness, hell, take one of the newbies—”

Erwin’s look is almost pitying. It clearly communicates, _after all these years, Mike, you think you can convince me when I’m this set on doing something?_

“You’re still humanity’s second strongest,” he reminds Mike. “The legendary nose.”

“That’s not what they called me in school,” Mike grumbles under his breath.

Erwin claps him on the shoulder, because, possibly, at some drunken point in their past, Mike might have mentioned his solitary childhood years and how strange and freaky of a kid he’d been.

“Get changed, Mike,” Erwin says. “We leave in half an hour.”

The mansion of the nobleman they’re wooing smells like old curtains. The man himself isn’t much better—there’s something vaguely sickly to his scent, and Mike holds his breath before leaning down and shaking his hand.

He watches Erwin move through the room, making small talk and bowing to the ladies. The mantle of Survey Corps leadership has settled well around his shoulders; he stepped up to the role as if he’s always belonged there.

Well, Mike must acknowledge, he’s probably aimed for the spot ever since enlisting in the military, because that’s the kind of a long plan Erwin can set his eye on and execute. _We’ll be the change,_ Erwin told him once.

Back then, Mike wanted to believe. Now, he finds that he actually does.

(Erwin manages to keep their funding, just. He may have promised his firstborn and possibly a kidney to secure the cashflow; Mike wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised.)

 

##### 848

“It’s my birthday and we’re going out to a bar,” Hange says, eyes glittering dangerously. “And we’re going to celebrate. And we’re going to ingest copious amounts of alcohol and maybe take a break from all the—”

“This is not something we can take a break from,” Erwin says. “Fifty people are _dead—”_

“You’re telling me?” Hange snaps. “I knew Alice, Ed, Ilse—”

“We can go,” Levi says, cutting through the argument. “Erwin can stay and work on the reports.”

Erwin transfers the heavy gaze to him, but Levi just looks impassively back.

“That’s what you want, right?” he asks. “To hide your guilt in work?”

Erwin doesn’t flinch, but Mike knows that the hit landed—Levi’s blows always do, that’s what he’s good at. Mike steps in before anyone can get hurt any worse.

“I’m sure we could use a morale boost,” he says calmly. “Nanaba mentioned that everyone was looking forward to Hange’s party.”

That had been before, of course—before the news came in that the entire 34th Expedition had perished in the line of duty. As far as they can find out, not a single person survived.

“I’ll tell Moblit to get the rest of the squad,” Hange says, raising her chin.

Erwin turns away from them, facing his desk. “Fine. If you want to go, go.”

Mike pictures him here, alone when everyone else is out, head bent over a letter to someone’s family. _We regret to inform you that your daughter…_

Mike lingers after Hange and Levi have left. “You should come too,” he tells Erwin. “It’ll do good for the troops to see you. An informal setting like that, we don’t have it so often.”

Erwin sits down behind the desk, shakes his head.

“I have other responsibilities,” he says.

“You’re not alone.” Mike hadn’t been planning to say it like that, but the words feel right once they’re out.

Erwin glances up at him and gives him one of his rare genuine smiles, tinged with tiredness around the corners.

“Thanks, Mike. I know. Tell everyone I’m sorry.”

At the bar, Hange is the soul of the party, still with that look in her eye that promises trouble. Levi orbits her, then retreats to spend time with his squad; throughout, he either doesn’t notice or, more likely, dismisses the awed gazes of the younger recruits. Erwin has mentioned that Levi’s fame has boosted the Survey Corps ranks. Mike can see it, now.

“You look content,” Nanaba says, pushing a beer Mike’s way.

“Just good to be home,” Mike says, and finds it to be true.

“The commander should be here,” Nanaba says.

“Next time,” Mike agrees.

(Next time, no one is dead, and Hange—still aided by Levi—drags Erwin for an evening out with gentler banter. Mike’s not one for parties, but it feels right, somehow, to simply sit back and sip his beer in the company of people who have, while he hadn’t been looking, become his friends.)

 

##### 849

“The titan spoke to her!” Hange waves the notebook about, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “It talked! For the first time ever. Do you even understand what it means? _They can talk, they can think—”_

“Will you stop yammering on?” Levi says, almost conversational.

“Levi.” Erwin directs a chiding glance his way. “While this is in fact an exciting discovery—”

“It spoke about _Ymir_ ,” Hange says. Her eyes are looking beyond all of them, into the mental library of theories she’s always thinking up. “Who or what do you think is _Ymir?”_

She happens to look at Mike at this moment, boring into him with the whole force of her zeal.

Mike blinks. “I think we have no way of knowing.”

“Right, no way, unless we _talk to more titans.”_ Hange rounds on Erwin. “Now will you authorize the capture of titans for experimentation?”

Erwin looks at Mike. Mike looks back, waiting for Erwin to choose. Capturing titans is dangerous, so Erwin had a point when he refused the idea. Learning about titans is also important, so Hange has a point too, especially in the light of Ilse Langner’s testimony.

“Are you sure this is fact?” Levi asks. “She could have been hallucinating from blood loss.”

“She wasn’t injured when she came across the titan,” Hange counters, brandishing the notebook again.

“She _claims_ she wasn’t injured,” Levi says. “You weren’t there, you don’t know what happened.”

“You’re talking about a girl who kept writing down notes about her encounter with a titan until moments before it killed her,” Hange says. “I knew Ilse. I’ve seen her in a crisis. I believe her evidence.”

Levi leans back in his chair, looking bored with the conversation already.

“Fine,” Erwin says. “During the next expedition, we’ll attempt the capture of titans—”

“Thank you!” Hange seems ready to hug him.

“—but only if it looks like we can do it with minimal risk to our troops,” Erwin concludes.

“Yes!” Hange beams at him, at all of them. “This is a beautiful day for the Survey Corps!”

“Now there won’t be any stopping her,” Levi murmurs, once Hange flits out of the room.

“You don’t want to stop her,” Erwin points out.

Levi ducks his head, hiding his expression. “Maybe not.”

“Do you think she actually has a chance of getting something out of them?” Mike asks, looking at Erwin.

“I wouldn’t be authorizing it if I didn’t,” Erwin says. That’s not an actual answer, though, and he knows it, because then he adds: “I hope so. We could really use a breakthrough.”

Mike nods. It’s wearying in ways beyond the physical, to throw their resources at the swarm of titans outside Wall Rose and get nowhere every time, to send people out there when the promise of victory is so slim, some days Mike has trouble holding onto it.

“We need a breakthrough,” Erwin repeats. “Something has to change.”

(Hange is pleased when they capture their first titans. She can’t disguise the way her hands shake by the end of the first day of experiments, nor can the recruits suppress the alarm with which they look at her. It’s not that they thought her harmless, before. But they hadn’t realized how ruthless she could be, either _._ )

 

##### 850

The year tumbles down upon their heads in an inexorable avalanche of events. First, another disaster looms at Trost; then the coveted breakthrough arrives in the form of an overwhelmed teenager. What follows is a bloody chase through the Forest of Giant Trees and a revelation of traitors in their midst.

“We’ll split up,” Erwin says, bent over a map. “We’ll carry out our part of the plan in Stohess, trying to lure out the Female Type. Someone needs to take the other graduates of the 104th Trainees Squad and isolate them some distance away. We don’t need any more surprises.”

“I’d do it, but I can’t.” Levi points at his leg, sour. His injury is untimely, to say the least.

“I wouldn’t have sent you anyway.” Erwin doesn’t look away from the map. “If I could use your strength, I’d use it in Stohess.”

“I’m not leaving,” Hange says firmly. “If we might catch the Female Type, I’ll be there.”

Nobody really doubted that. Erwin looks up at Mike.

“Sure,” he says, easy. “I don’t mind. Where do you need me to go?”

“Far, but not too long of a journey away.” Erwin frowns. “Here, maybe.” He points to the map, circling a base down south. “It would tide us over for a few days.”

“Anything in particular you want me to do?” Mike asks.

“Be on alert, wait for my signal,” Erwin says. “Don’t let any of the suspects wear the manoeuvre gear. We don’t want them battle-ready.”

“What are you telling them, that they’re going on holiday?” Levi scoffs.

“A training exercise of some kind,” Hange suggests. “They’re too new to know better. We might have bizarre hazing rituals.”

“If there are traitors in the group, they’ll be wary,” Mike says. “What if they act?”

Erwin’s face hardens. “Subdue them.”

“And if one of them is the Colossal Titan?”

“Then we’re in trouble either way,” Hange says. “Right?”

Levi gazes at the map. “This plan… More of your gambles, Erwin.”

“At this point, we don’t have anything else,” Erwin says.

Levi scowls at his leg.

Unfortunately, Erwin is right: they don’t have a lot of options.

“When do you want us to leave?” Mike asks.

“As soon as you can get your squad ready,” Erwin says.

Mike gets up from his chair.

“Next time we see each other, we should know more,” Hange says, smiling at him.

“I’ll wait for your signal and let you know if anything happens,” Mike says, mostly to Erwin.

“Good luck!” Hange says, and Levi nods his goodbye.

The last time he sees them, they’re still crowded around the map-strewn table, already moving on to the next point to debate. It’s a familiar sight, almost anchoring in its enduring stability. Whatever else happens, Mike has his squad to rely on and these people to come back to.

(It’s a good thing he didn’t promise to come back. Mike hates breaking his promises.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as [snkception](http://snkception.tumblr.com). Feel free to come say hi!


End file.
